"While traditional hot-mix asphalt is tested at a temperature of 295° F, warm-mix is tested at 250° F," explains Michelle Beecher, Chicago Department of Aviation quality assurance material testing project manager and best sister a brother could have, in this article. As always, I am proud of my big yet somehow younger sister.

Thank you for supporting us all as we pulled a UPS Airbus A300 (weighing 99 tons) at O’Hare to raise funds as part of the S.T.A.T.E. Testing team at the Law Enforcement Torch Run Plane Pull benefiting Special Olympics Illinois. Please enjoy a few photos from the event, and consider participating and supporting us next year. Read More...

Linda rescued a painted turtle that was crossing a busy road, and brought him home. We named him Pickles, cleaned him up, checked him over, and relocated him to a pond where it would be happy and much safer. It was yet another successful animal rescue. Good luck, Pickles!
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I have received enough emails on the mantises that I thought I had better get a posting out to let everyone know that we did indeed get a family of Praying Mantises out of the Eggs that Sweeter laid. As before, we were amazed by the variance in size, color, and most interestingly, personality. I hope you will enjoy a few of the photos I took, and I am sorry they are so long overdue. Read More...

Is it really necessary to include long, detailed error messages that help attackers figure out everything there is to know about your system? Here is a little technique I use that involves using a unique, random tag instead. It helps me find the error message in my code more quickly, and it reveals almost nothing to an attacker. Read More...

My family has a close relationship with the animals that live around our house. In fact, the entire reason we chose the house was because we had grown accustomed to living near a wooded area, and we were determined to always have a forest nearby. But that may be to the demise of one particular Screech Owl. Read More...

Here are a few pictures from a trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico. This was a work trip, so no time for sightseeing or exploring, but I did manage to get a few pictures I wanted to share. I had a bit of trouble identifying some of the species and remembering the locations, so if I got anything wrong, please help me out by letting me know.
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